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Psalm 26 reads as follows from the NIV version of the Bible: 1 Vindicate me, LORD, for I have led a blameless life; I have trusted in the LORD and have not faltered. 2 Test me, LORD, and try me, examine my heart and my mind; 3 for I have always been mindful of your unfailing love and have lived in reliance on your faithfulness. 4 I do not sit with the deceitful, nor do I associate with hypocrites. 5 I abhor the assembly of evildoers and refuse to sit with the wicked. 6 I wash my hands in innocence, and go about your altar, LORD, 7 proclaiming aloud your praise and telling of all your wonderful deeds. 8 LORD, I love the house where you live, the place where your glory dwells. 9 Do not take away my soul along with sinners, my life with those who are bloodthirsty, 10 in whose hands are wicked schemes, whose right hands are full of bribes. 11 I lead a blameless life; redeem me and be merciful to me. 12 My feet stand on level ground; in the great congregation I will praise the LORD. The key verses in this psalm are about reliance and trust in the Lord. Verses 2 and 3 read as follows: 2 Test me, LORD, and try me, examine my heart and my mind; 3 for I have always been mindful of your unfailing love and have lived in reliance on your faithfulness. What this psalm does do is tell a lot about where to go in your thinking. Sometimes things don’t seem to be working out and there is a temptation to follow the herd for which things may seem to be going well, but the herd may not be following the precepts of the Lord or even thinking about him. Their center may be elsewhere. If they are not members of the Lord house, that is the spiritual house of the Lord, they shouldn’t be consulted and the tracks of their chosen paths should not be sought and followed. This psalm talks about the unfailing love of the Lord and while there is sometimes more so an emphasis on being faithful to the Lord, this psalm is talking about a faithfulness of the Lord in being there for the psalmist, David and his best choice is to seek and follow that faithfulness of the Lord that is already there for him. The Lord’s love is unfailing for him and this is something that he can actual see and move with. Even though David can see the Lord’s love he realizes that he is to a degree in the position of weakness and there is the possibility that he could falter as he is in a world where many have gone astray. He likes the view he has, that he indeed can see the love of the Lord for him, and he is asking the Lord to continually examine him and review his ways of thinking and his mindset so that he can warn him and keep him on standing in the presence of the Lord’s love for him In verse 1 he says he has trusted the Lord and has not wavered. In the epistle of James Chapter 1 there are verses saying to petition the Lord with an unwavering faith and a big part of this or a big component and input towards this is keeping your mind on the Lord, on the things of the Lord and your thoughts on the Lord. This psalm speaks strongly to how David sees his own situation and what his part should be. His part is to stay mindful of the Lord, to steady his mind on the Lord and keep it there and to ponder the great love of the Lord, which is unfailing. He speaks of reliance and this reliance is something that can be compromised by looking elsewhere, by looking yonder where he needs only to look for the Lord and his love and his manifestations of his love which indeed will never fail to manifest for David. That the Lord does love him is something that he can see and feel and know. From James Chapter 1 verses 5 and 6 it reads as follows: If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. 6 But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.” The Lord is not on a fault finding mission as he gives to those who are lacking and are asking for what they lack. Here in this psalm, the group that is on the other side of things, the schemers and so on, aren’t asking anything of the Lord, they are totally on their own and not putting any reliance on the Lord. The wavering souls mentioned in James, or those being tossed by the waves or winds of the times would be more so asking the Lord for things, but at the same time co mingling with the schemers and putting some reliance in that route. This would be an example of being tossed to and fro as the waves are by the wind. They indeed are partially seeking the Lord, but not actually relying on him and this is their mistake, to rely on him, would be to trust that the Lord alone will provide for their paths, and that to also go with the schemers would be compromising or diluting that reliance on the Lord. It is more so an either or situation, either you are relying on the Lord or your not. The problem for those including David himself as the author of this psalm, is to keep his mindset and thinking on the unfailing love of the Lord and that is all he is relying on and to go elsewhere is the mistake to watch out for. Because there are others who are completely outside of seeking the Lord and his love, yet do have success in material realms, there is always a temptation to see that and follow that way. But it is like looking out at the seas and it looks good maybe on the surface, for a swim or surf, but underneath there is trouble lurking. There might be a shiny gloss to those who are successful as schemers or the like, but there is no good choice other than relying on the Lord’s love only. What is to be relied upon is the steady love of the Lord, and that is it. Partaking of the ways of say bribery, as mentioned in this psalm, by a believer would be an exercise of doubt and it would be a fault in how things were being approached. David does seem concerned about this possibility as in the psalm he asks that Lord examine his heart and mind to see were he is, and whether he has been on the right track or whether he also has some fault and is wavering. He believes that he has not wavered but wants to confirm this from the Lord’s view of him. The wavering would go against reliance on the Lord and to avoid this he needed to avoid the company of those whose minds were seemingly far from the Lord and his ways, and they have shown where they stand and where they are at by their actions. But if it was guaranteed that the wavering or moving away from the Lord wasn’t possible, David would not be mentioning it in this psalm. Indeed it was a felt possibility and something to beware of and caution against. It is interesting that the verses from James mention that the Lord gives without finding fault. This is a very positive sign, in that if you are receiving something from the hand of the Lord, he is not finding fault with you as he is giving the gift to you whether it be wisdom or any other gift. When wisdom is mentioned as the thing to ask for in James, this doesn't preclude many other related gifts, as for example in the case of Solomon, he asked for wisdom and got wisdom but also many other gifts as well including great wealth and riches of various sorts. The category of the doubtful referred to in James wouldn’t refer to the sinners who are mentioned in this psalm as they do not seem to have any interest in pursuing a prayer relationship with the Lord. The doubtful referred to in James would more be someone who is asking of the Lord, but is wavering or being tossed by the winds and one big way of doing this is participating in the schemes of the wicked as depicted in this psalm and by doing this moving away from reliance on the Lord. The tools of reliance on the Lord are clear from this psalm, and that is too keep your mind and thoughts on the steadfast and unfailing love in the Lord and a key means for this is prayer and consultation with the Lord and pondering the ways of the Lord not only in a larger sense but for you personally in the details of your walk with the Lord. One question would be, if the Lord is withholding a blessing in one area, say a financial blessing, is it because he is finding fault with any area of a person’s life? The question of fault needs to be discussed in prayer, in the context of possible wavering. David is in part asking the Lord to point out his faults, and his pleadings are that he has not wavered. But the gift or blessing, if received has a double indication according to the verses from James as indicating that there isn’t any fault on your part that needs to be overcome to fully receive the gift. As the Lord is giving something, he is not finding fault and even with mentioning potential faults it is to shield the gifts he is giving or to protect what he is giving. For example if someone gives someone a car there would be safety procedures to follow. Alternatives similar to those facing David seemingly will always be available; there will always be temptations to join with schemers or people who prey on others whether it would be for schemes involved with money or other issues. David however would keep his reliance on the Lord and was able to see that veering away from that reliance would be aligning himself with the people who did not have their thoughts on the Lord and his unfailing love. While this psalm doesn’t point to any particular path, as every person may have a different path, it does point out there is a clear split between reliance on the Lord and not relying on the Lord, but there is also the case of straddling both sides of the fence and this is where reliance on the Lord can b e compromised by a believer and there is no reason to compromise as the Lord’s love is unfailing and that love should be trusted always and in all situations. So wherever you actually are or whatever your plans are, plan on being mindful of the Lord and in particular using the means of calling and meditating upon his unfailing love and what that is, and how is it is continually manifesting for you and what it means to your life. As with one channeling through the waves of the seas, the sights should be set on the steady love of the Lord no matter what the changing face the seas are showing this day and this moment and this love is depicted in this psalm as unfailing and faithful to the one to whom it is directed and in James it is seen as not finding fault but is freely giving out of the generous love towards the one who is asking.
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